


Honeymoon On Alderaan

by Blackjewel101



Series: The Empress' Wrath [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Star Wars Expanded Universe, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, So Married, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic Spoilers, The Dark Side of the Force, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-01-27 15:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12584948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackjewel101/pseuds/Blackjewel101
Summary: After a beautiful wedding on her home planet of Alderaan, Isbalaa and her new husband Malavai enjoy a well deserved vacation and honeymoon.  Shenanigans ensue and crazy adventures follow.  Canon divergence, all non bioware characters are my own, enjoy this crazy adventure!





	1. A Married Morning

Sunlight flitted through the window of the cabin window and landed on Malavai's sleeping face. He turned away from the obnoxious light and reached across the bed, but found it to be cold. The man stirred in confusion, opening his eyes to look about the room. His wife hadn't been kidding when she said she'd found a luxury cabin for their honeymoon. It was nestled in the Alderaanian mountains, overlooking Castle Panteer, and was unreachable by anything other than Thranta. Still in a daze from sleep, Malavai ran a hand through his unusually messy black hair, mussing it further. He was about to roll over and return to sleep when a loud crash echoed through the house, causing him to jerk awake and promptly fall out of the large bed.

"Oh kriffing kriff!" The captain cursed to himself before quickly grabbing his blaster and, dressed in nothing but a pair of hastily pulled on boxers, rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen where the noise originated from. There, in the small but rather luxuriously furnished kitchen, stood his wife. Isbalaa, while on the short and slim side, was actually a very toned woman, more of a swimmer or a runner than a bodybuilder. Her short brown curls were pulled back from her face with a looped golden headband that exposed her blood red sith tattoos on her forehead along with a small beaded ornament that sat on her brow. Her skin was pale, almost like snow, and deep piercing brown eyes stared back at Malavai with a frightened doe look to them. She wore nothing but a thin nightgown of shimmersilk that hugged her middle and chest but flowed past her feet and a similar shawl draped over her slender arms.

"Oh come on!" The sith cried in exasperation, throwing her hands into the air, and with it a torrent of flour. The kitchen was a complete mess, flour all over the place, bowls full of half mixed batter on the island, a pan of melted butter sat on the stove, and egg shells in the sink clogging the drain. Isbalaa hung her head with a sigh before continuing. "...I wanted to surprise you..." Then Malavai noticed there were papers, actual kriffing papers on the floor, when he picked one up, he realized they were recipes. When blue eyes connected with brown again his wife's eyes dropped to the ground.

"I was gonna make you Queen Cakes... my family's recipe... It's kind of a tradition on my mom's side. She made them for my father the first morning of their marriage and her mom before her, for so many generations it was written on paper. I don't even know how old this stuff is..." The blaster that had been hanging at the man's side dropped to the floor as he knelt in front of his new wife, clasping her hands in his.  
"My love, this is the sweetest thing anyone has every done for me. I don't care if they didn't turn out just as you planned, the fact that you, my beautiful _sith_ warrior wife decided to try something as terribly domestic as _cooking_ is utterly baffling." Malavai rose to his feet and scooped up the petite brunette into his arms and spun her around before planting a loving kiss onto her lips.

"Oh what would I do without you?" She murmured, a big, bright smile blooming across her features.

"Probably destroy the galaxy with your immense fury most likely." Isbalaa's husband replied with a chuckle, to which she replied with a loud bout of laughter herself.

"C'mon darling, let's put that beautiful smile to work somewhere else hmm?"


	2. Derping With The Holovids

The rest of the morning had gone well, Isbalaa and Malavai had cleaned up the kitchen and actually made a pretty good batch of Queen Cakes. They lounged by the fire, watching holovideos as they ate, laughing at the cheesy lines of the romance movies, and cheering on the characters in the war movies. Those were Isbalaa’s favorites, not because of the whole war bit, but because they always had a struggle. People in those kinds of movies had a heavy burden to bare and yet were smiling in the end. It gave her a sense of hope, that maybe things would get better and all the horrors the sith had seen wouldn’t be the world that she’d raise a family in.

Currently the two were curled up on the couch in front of the roaring fireplace in the cabin, under a multitude of large, thick and soft fur-lined blankets. Isbalaa’s hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun and her head was resting on her husband’s chest while her one free hand held a glass of Corellian wine. Malavai had his arm around his wife, his hair still neat and tidy, with only a few hairs out of place and his own glass of the alcohol sitting on the end table next to the plush couch. The movie playing was a really old one, a fantasy adventure set during the infinite empire or something.

It was mostly speculation, but the story was interesting which is why the sith had suggested it. ‘It was one of my favorites as a child.’ She’d said, and it did not disappoint, currently it was between battles, the resistance had won a crucial battle and were now having a celebration. People of many species had brought out crude instruments and had begun playing a wordless tune while soldiers danced. It was a jaunty tune, bright and full of hope, resembling the tavern songs on more backwater planets, the kind Jaesa would like. The sith woman began to tap her foot to the beat and bob her head in enjoyment.

After a few moments of this, Isbalaa got up, reaching across the captain and placed her wine glass next to his before jumping up off the couch and smiling. She was in nothing but a loose black tank top and a pair of pajama bottoms embroidered with the empire’s symbol in red. Her face had an expression of mischief as the sith woman began to dance, ridiculously. The brunette threw her hands into the air and began swaying her hips, spinning around and kicking out with her legs, jumping around the room and letting out a big laugh.

“C’mon honey! Dance with me!” The sith lord cried, acting like more of a school girl than a master of the dark side. Malavai starred on before getting up, a smile on his own face. He shook his head with a small chuckle, his wife had always been quirky, but this, this was ridiculous. It was one of the reasons he married her, she was a wacky woman. Isbalaa took that moment to vault off the back of the couch with the force, flip into the air and slide across the floor, making an air guitar motion with her hands before reaching one of them out.

Her husband took her outstretched hand in his own and pulled her up and into his arms, twirling her and swaying to the music slightly. She let out another laugh, clearly enjoying herself and Malavai couldn’t help but add in a chuckle of his own. A small memory surfaced, of a remote station, two war droids, and a guilt that still crushed his heart. The black haired captain stopped smiling and looked at the ground.

Immediately his wife stopped, sensing something amiss, she turned towards him and bent down to look into his eyes.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” The sith asked softly, a gently look in her eyes. Malavai straightened and looked up at her when she did the same.

“I’m happy darling, I really am…” He trailed off and a look of hurt crossed the woman’s face before being replaced by a neutral expression.

“But what?” Isbalaa asked hesitantly, afraid to hear the answer.

“I keep thinking about that night, with the droids… I-I tried to kill you…” His voice was soft, full of shame.

“Malavai Quinn, you look at me right now.” He obeyed and the two locked eyes. “You and I, we were just getting to know each other then. Us wasn’t even a thought in my mind yet, you may have betrayed the sith, but that’s the past, and you chose to bind yourself to the woman. You and me, we happened after, and I have no regrets, I’ll choose you again and again, in any lifetime. No matter what, I love you and only you.” The petite brunette smiled at him, a big and bright grin that matched the love in her eyes. Her husband stared back, a grateful smile of his own gracing his lips, his own eyes searched hers and found that she was indeed speaking the truth.

“And I love you, after everything you’ve faced, after everything we’ve faced, I’m proud to call you mine and to be yours.”

“Well good, because you’re being a derp bringing up all that old junk. You may be a derp, but you’re my derp!” His wife cried, vaulting herself at Malavai and jumping into his arms. He let out a small sound of surprise but held her anyway, a loud laugh erupting from his own mouth.

“What does that even mean?” The man laughed.

“I don’t even know!” Was her answer.


	3. Family Visits And Talks~!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang go visit Mama and Papa Sith Lord and important talks take place. I love hearing comments! Please feel free to talk to me, I don't bite... much. XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fixed a few grammar mistakes and made some changes that make the chapter flow easier.

Isbalaa and her husband were woken up by a soft scratching at the window of the cabin. The sith warrior casually got out of bed and towards the sound of the tapping. Upon closer inspection, a large, colorful flutterplume sat on the windowsill, tapping a claw at the window pane. The petite brunette carefully opened the window to let the creature inside before shutting it again to keep out the cold.

“What is it dear?” Malavai asked. His wife didn’t reply instantly, but took the small datapad tied to the plume’s leg.

“It’s from my mother… I didn’t think she’d send this so soon…” The man got up from the bed and went to his wife’s side, looking over her shoulder at the datapad.

“Wait, what? She’s inviting us for dinner alright, but the whole crew too?” His wife shrugged in response.

“I suppose, mother never really makes sense in her decisions, but there’s always a reason.” Isbalaa looked at him from over her shoulder. “Do you wanna go?” Malavai thought for a moment before answering, contemplating how to handle this situation.

“If you want to then I have no objections. They are my family now too, in any case.” His wife smiled brightly at him, her brown eyes alight. The small woman then catapulted herself into her husband’s arms, dropping the datapad onto the floor with a loud clang.

“Oh thank you!!!” She cried happily, letting out a bright laugh.

 

Later, at the Thul House Palace.

“I knew you were a Thul… but this is elaborate even for nobles!” Jaesa whistled, leaning against the blue twi’lek next to her.

“Yeah, when we came here for Baras looking for you, Izzy took me home to her place for a visit. Captain Tightpants came along too, before they started dating and all.” Lt. Pierce snickered at that, trying to cover his guffaws of laughter behind his armored hand. Malavai sent him a look which only made him laugh harder. Isbalaa rolled her eyes and linked her arm with his, laying her head on his shoulder as they rode in the speeder towards the front entrance. Broonmark had opted out of the invitation, saying he had plans to go hunt for 'Sith Clan'. No one decided to pressure him into a heavily populated area.

The manor was large, teched out and yet looking elegant and proud at the same time. Spires stuck up all across the front of the palace, bright blue lights accenting the metal of the outer area. It was as beautiful as it was a fortress, capable of withstanding even the most brutal of attacks. The bright red sigil over a royal purple and silver banner flew in the wind over the palace, familiar to the sith warrior.

“Welp, let’s go see mama and papa sith then!” Vette exclaimed, biting her bottom lip.

“Oh come now Vette, you know I’m the only sith in my family, but mother does have the attitude and mannerisms of one. Father… is father…” Isbalaa trailed off, Jaesa looked at her girlfriend beside her.

“As in, Master’s mom is… dark?” A slightly wicked smile crossed the apprentice’s face.

“More like… intense…” The twi’lek replied, Pierce raised a brow.

“So, she’s intimidatin’ n all?” Vette nodded in reply, but before she could speak again the front entrance opened and an entire entourage came barreling out. A mass of guards filed out and created two lines down the large steps, all looking inward and standing to attention. Servants filed out and unfurled a long cinnamon red carpet down the line, before bowing at the end of the soldiers. Two figures emerged from the palace, arm in arm, one, female, dressed in a long purple dress with silver swirls and floral patterns. A long red sash crossed her left shoulder and across to her right hip, she held herself with a regal air, proud and dignified. Her long brown hair was done in elaborate curls, before being pulled up into a ponytail looking design behind her head. Sharp features addressed her face, strikingly similar to the sith warrior at the head of their group, ruby red lips were pursed in a gently line. The only difference that could be seen were the woman’s strikingly gray eyes, so bright that the group could see them from twenty meters away.

The man next to her looked much warmer, his attire complemented the woman’s perfectly, a similar shirt of purple with silver stitching was over his shoulders with another red sash over his shoulder. Black formal dress slacks were tucked into formal nerf leather boots and black velvet gloves covered his hands. He had a bright smile on his face, strawberry blonde hair fell into his eyes in long and messy locks, which matched the bright smile he wore. They were the same brown eyes as Isbalaa, and looked a lot like her in his posture and happy attitude.

The group met up with the entourage when a soldier to the left began belting out for all to hear.

“Announcing her highness, Darth Isbalaa of House Thul, Queen of the Darkness, Killer of Thieves, The Throne Breaker, Princess to the Throne and Conqueror of the Galaxy!” Malavai turned to his wife, his brows furrowed.

“...Princess?” The others turned to look at the sith, she looked at each of them in turn before sighing in exasperation.

“Oh for the love of… I killed the Ulgo guy, who else would I put on the throne? I don’t trust any of my other relatives, and I sure wasn’t going to take it over anytime soon!” It was Pierce who spoke first, a smile on his features.

“Well would ya look at tha, Mr. Rulebook got ‘imself a real princess! An honest to kriff princess!” The warrior took a deep breath before turning to glare at the lieutenant who promptly shut his trap. The two figures at the top waited patiently for the group to ascend before regarding them. The woman spoke first, opening her arms in welcome.

“My dearest daughter, welcome home!” She exclaimed, leaning forward to initiate a hug, the petite sith complied, embracing her mother with a smile.

“Hey mom, hey dad.” The sith murmured, turning to hug her father in turn. The man chuckled, pulling her into the hug and spinning the young woman in a circle before releasing her.

“Goodness, look at you! My baby girl is a Dark Lord of the Sith! And it seems only yesterday we were on Dromund Kaas and you snapped that mugger’s neck. To think that that would lead you to Korriban and onto greatness.” Isbalaa chuckled.

“Yeah Dad I know… I missed you guys, oh hey! This is my mom, Queen Anastora of House Thul and my Dad, King Ortence of House Encia. These here are my friends-" Her mother placed a delicate hand onto the sith’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we move this into a more, private setting, the drawing room perhaps?” The Queen looked beside her at a few relatives standing by, eying the entourage. Isbalaa’s father nodded, motioning for them all to come inside.

“Come in come in, don’t stand there like a monkey lizard in a snow storm, come in!”

Once everyone was comfortably inside and in relatively private quarters, Vette plopped herself down onto one of the plush looking sofa’s where Jaesa followed soon after her, snuggling into the twi’lek’s side. Pierce stood behind his commanding officer and her husband, looking over at Jaesa and her girlfriend with a raised brow. The Queen gracefully sat in one of the other sofa’s while her husband went behind the couch and rested on the back looking at his daughter.

“Now then, why don’t you introduce us now that we’re all properly settled? Mom had been dying to meet your crew, and get you to visit more often.” The sith bit her lip in response, feeling slightly guilty.

“Sorry Dad, it’s been hard with everything that’s going on… Anyway…” The darth turned towards her adoptive sister. “You’ve already met Vette, that there is her girlfriend and my apprentice, Jaesa Willsaam.” The two women on the couch waved with a smile, Vette more enthusiastically since she’d gone through this before. Isbalaa then turned to Pierce who she motioned to. “This is Lieutenant Colin Pierce, a special ops man who I recruited on Taris, and this,” The sith finally turned to Malavai. “Is Captain Malavai Quinn, my husband…”

Silence, the room was deathly silent, the Captain in question stood at a stand still, ramrod straight to attention, looking dead into the King’s eyes. Then a loud squeal began emanating from the Queen, much to the confusion of the rest of the room’s occupants. Her highness then jumped up and embraced her daughter, bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Oh my stars! When did this happen? Why didn’t you invite us?! Oh wait, I know, it’s a private affair… Is he… good to you?” The mother’s face then turned into a big and bright smile. “AM I GOING TO GET GRANDCHILDREN?!?!?” At that comment, everyone in the room seemed to stop, Vette an Jaesa froze, before the former began to belt out guffaws of laughter, the latter’s eye twitching. Pierce had a look on his face that was a cross between curiosity and horror.

Malavai though, he was completely frozen, eyes unfocused and far off, while his wife buried her head in her hands and tried to hide herself in her husband’s jacket.

“Mom whyyyyyyyyyyyyy….” The sith whined, her father came up behind his wife and pulled her into an embrace.

“Darling… don’t you think we shouldn’t scar our daughter and her new husband for life?” The Queen sighed but relented.

“Oh fine, I suppose we should keep everyone's sanity intact."

“Okay dad, uh, why don’t we all just call it a night? I don’t know about you but I’m really tired…” The warrior was looking pretty cornered, her eyes flitting around the room in slight distress. Her husband immediately noticed this and pulled her into his arms. The action had obviously been done many times as it appeared to be of habit and the young woman instantly calmed down, melting into the embrace.

If her parents noticed, (*Cough cough* Most likely *Cough cough*) they didn’t say anything. Anastora nodded, smiling at her daughter lovingly.

“Of course honey, you remember the way to your rooms, I had them spruced up before we sent you the message. What you were doing in the family cabin I have no idea…” The Queen smiled innocently, the king shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose in slight frustration next to her. “And I’ll have a few guards show your friends to their rooms, I assume the girls will have a joint room with a single bed?”

Said ladies blushed at that but nodded, Pierce just shrugged.

“Eh, these gals get all ‘a fun, no m’atter, I’ll just holo mi gurl.”

“Yeah alright Pierce, go ahead and holo the bounty hunter chick you’re so fond of, remind her of the contract I hired her for by the way!” Isbalaa called after her, already leading her husband out of the room. They quickly made their way to the west wing of the palace, only being disturbed by a few servants who stopped to bow to them on their way past. Finally, the petite brunette stopped in front of two elaborately carved doors, and with a simple biolock scan, the two entered.

Inside was a large and lavish room with couches in front of a fireplace, a table and chairs with an assortment of foods on golden plates. A roaring fire in said fireplace cast the room in an orange tinted light, and somewhere soft music played. The walls were decorated in paintings, some more amateurishly painted, others more elaborate and professional. Thul banners hung here and there, their purple and red hues tying into the wallpaper of royal blue perfectly. There was a plush rug of red and gold on the floor, just far enough from the fire as to not be set alight, draped over the couches were furs of different colors, cut into blanket shapes and lined with fabric on the other side. To the left, another set of double doors stood, open wide to reveal the bedroom inside.

From what could be seen, a large four poster bed sat on the far wall, covered in silk sheets and a large and plump comforter. A ridiculous amount of throw pillows covered the surface and the carpet matched the sheets with their golden hue. The entire area was elaborate, now that he’d gotten over the shock of the opulence of the place Malavai began noticing the more sentimental items strewn about. In the living room, to one side was an easel with paints on a table next to it, on the wall above the fireplace, training sabers hung in an X formation under a lizard-like skull. On the opposite side from the easel were bookshelves of honest to God books, real books with paper. And on the bed in the other room, the captain could swear he saw a stuffed thranta among the pile of pillows.

“So these are my rooms, uh, there’s a bathroom through the bedroom and to the left. This is the sitting area, are you tired?” Malavai shook himself out of his stupor to look at his wife with a small smile.

“Just a bit, after a good night’s rest I’ll be operating at peak efficiency.” He declared, smiling again at the little laugh the sith gave him at that remark.

“Okay well, I’ll turn down the bed, could you pick out a book for me? You know how much I love those things.” With that the brunette disappeared into the bedroom, humming softly to herself. Malavai looked over the old tomes and stories from centuries past and let his hand skim over the ancient bindings. Master Jukai’s Battle Forms, Warlord Tunzi’s Legendary Tactics, The Road To Peace Through Passion… the list went on. The captain picked one at random, A Steady Hand, and walked into the room.

Isbalaa had turned down the bed and propped her suitcase onto the table next to it, she’d changed out of her travelling gear and into another shimmersilk gown. This one was gold in color, draping to the floor again but the shawl that went over the shoulders was hanging next to the bed on a small hook. Her hair had been let down from the headband and now flowed freely down her shoulders in waves. 

Brown eyes met blue and the Captain quickly set the book down on the bed before turning to his own suitcase and stripping down to his boxers. He folded his clothing with military precision before packing them away and climbing into bed. His wife climbed into bed soon after and picked up the book, cracking it open to a random page and snuggling into Malavai’s side.

“Hey handsome.” She giggled, looking up at him with a smile.

“Hello m’lord.” He replied, leaning down to give her an upside down kiss. It was brief, but terribly domestic before the captain got a mischievous smile on his face. The sith’s eyes widened and she pointed a finger at him accusingly.

“Oh no, no no no no! Don’t you dare!” She cried before Malavai descended upon her, fingers ghosting over her sides and mercilessly tickling the petite brunette. Guffaws of laughter erupted from her while quieter ones came from her ‘attacker’. The onslaught went on for a few moments before the force enveloped the man’s wrists, pulling them away from his wife’s sides. “Rude, how dare you, my own husband, plotting to tickle me to death. Perhaps I should show you what happens to would be assassins!”

She then began to assault him with tickles, his arms still being held back by the force. Laughter erupted from her husband, a minute went by before she released him and they both sank back into the sheets. They snuggled for awhile in silence, the soft light of the fire from the other room providing the only light.

After a while Isbalaa broke the silence with a question, just barely above a whisper.

“...Malavai, do you want kids?” She asked softly, her hands clutching his own. The man stiffened for a moment before relaxing an wrapping his arms around her tightly.

“I think that if we decided to have kids, I’d be the happiest man in the galaxy, because they’d be our kids. I never thought I’d get the chance to be a father, now that it’s a possibility I’d love to have children. The real question is, do you want kids? Because whatever you want I’m okay with, because as long as I spend my life with you, that’s all I want.” Blue eyes met brown, when Isbalaa pulled him in close, arms wrapping around his neck and burying her face into the crook of his neck.

“I do want kids, I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I never thought I’d be able to have my own kids, I’d just adopt when I got to that point, but then you came into my life. When we first started dating, I didn’t think about the future much, but after a few months, I began seeing it. You and me, together, I-I… I had a dream one night… In a hospital room, I was in the bed, holding a small child, you were next to me with the biggest smile on your face. In that moment I knew that’s what I wanted, more than anything I wanted to hold that child in my arms and call him or her ours. I’m not saying today or next month, not even a year from now, but when we’re ready, I want to have children with you.” Malavai smiled in return, cupping her cheek with one warm hand and rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone lovingly.

“That’s what I want too, and I promise you, come what may, I will protect you to the best of my ability. You and our child, I may not have a connection to the force, but I can design a fortress for us to keep them protected and safe from harm. I love you, Isbalaa, always.”

“I love you too, Malavai, to the ends of the universe and back.”


	4. Shots Fired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang take care of some business involving House Alde.

Blood, there was so much blood, it covered her body, it was getting in her eyes. The sith clawed her eyes, crying out because she couldn’t see, but her cries were silent as blood ran down her throat choking her. She sputtered, finally able to see, only to see bodies, tens of thousands of bodies all shambling towards her. Some barely there, cut apart and covered in lightsaber burns. Others were just burnt to a crisp, all of them, their blank, dead eyes looking at her. Then they began to speak, in unison they cried, softly at first, then became a crescendo of voices. 

“You did this to us, you murdered us!”

Isbalaa sat up in bed, panting and covered in a cold sweat, she looked around in fear. As her eyes flittered around the room the sith warrior realized she was in her own room on Alderaan, she was safe. The brunette sat up and curled in on herself, burying her head in her hands and silently let tears fall. It had been some time since she’d had that particular dream, but it never failed to shake the sith to her very core.

Next to her, a figure shifted, causing Isbalaa to go silent, careful not to wake the man next to her. Malavai however, had woken up, he turned over to look at his wife and began blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“...Isbalaa?” He asked, his voice gravelly from sleep. In a second the captain saw his wife, looked over and instantly knew something was very wrong. Malavai sat up quickly, pulling his wife into his embrace and encircling her in his arms. “Darling, what’s wrong?” The blue eyed man questioned gently, beginning to rub soothing circles on her back.

“...It was that dream again… with the b-bodies….” The petite woman whispered, turning into the embrace and balling her fists into her husband’s shirt. “A-all the people I killed… t-the ones I didn’t mean to… I couldn’t save them… I-I’m a sith, it shouldn’t bother me… b-but it does…” Tears began to fall freely again, soaking the man’s shirt but he didn’t care. Malavai just began stroking his wife’s hair soothingly, trying to convey without so many words how much he loved her.

“Oh Isbalaa, there’s nothing wrong with you, you are sith, but that doesn’t mean you don’t care. In fact it means the opposite, you care much more because you use your whole being. Through passion I gain strength right?” The woman’s eyes flicked back and forth for a moment, before she nodded.

“...I’m sorry for waking you..” Her husband let out a small chuckle in response.

“Think nothing of it M’lord, I’d much rather have you talk to me and tell me these things than to be in the dark. Though the dark does look very nice on you, in more ways than one.” Isbalaa let out a laugh at that, giving the captain a light shove goodnaturedly.

“Charmer.”

“You love me.” The woman then rested against him, her arms snaking around his middle in a hug.

“That I do, very much.” The two were nearly asleep when the doors to the chamber burst open and in tromped a large white Talz. The couple instantly jumped in fright, the sith woman pulling one of her sabers off the nightstand next to her before recognizing Broonmark.

“Force dammit Broonmark, what the actual kriff?” Isbalaa exclaimed, clearly miffed. The talz didn’t reply, only dropped a fairly large bag onto the end of the bed and unzipped it. Inside was a dead Manka Cat, it’s front tusks cut off and caked in dried blood.

The Talz began to speak in his native language, a mix of buzzing and and horn like sounds. “Pierce said you’d be hungry and wanted to see my hunt. I bring honor to Sith Clan by taking down these mighty beasts. This was the only one that fit in a bag.” Malavai blinked, his wife blinked. She then proceeded to throw her head back in laughter while her husband’s eye twitched.

“PIERCE!!!!!” He screeched.

Later, In The Main Hall

After that fiasco, the party all met in one of the major hall’s for an actual meal. Though Isbalaa had insisted that the Manka Cat be served for dinner later to honor their friend’s efforts. She still couldn’t stop laughing after that whole mess, much to the delight of Lt. Pierce. Currently they were all sitting at a rather large and immaculate table, eating a large and well prepared meal, something that the team hadn’t really enjoyed for quite awhile. Space doesn’t have that many fast food stops, don’t judge me.

Isbalaa sat near the front, to the right of the head seat where her father sat, and across from her mother. Malavai sat directly to his wife’s right and across from Vette. Next to Vette was Jaesa of course and across from her was Pierce, much to the Captain’s annoyance. Broonmark had opted out of the meal, saying he’d ‘absorbed the essence of his hunt’, whatever that meant. Now he was just poking at the fire, and watching the flames intently with his many eyes.

“So mother, tell me more about this problem you’ve been having with House Rist.” Isbalaa asked the Queen, gracefully navigating the array of dishes and silverware like a true noblewoman.

“Well,” Her mother began, “since our rise to power there have been others who disapproved, Ulgo was defeated, Organa was chased off into hiding but Rist… They haven’t taken the newer laws lightly. They’ve begun to attack trade routes, blowing up our supply lines and killing our troop deployments. Damn assassins think they can fight back, course when your father and I heard you were planetside we saw the opportunity...” Anastora trailed off, looking at her daughter to make the conclusion herself. 

“I can take care of the problem, you don’t have to ask mom. Besides, I’m sure everyone’s been itching for some exercise since we touched down. Leave is only so much fun when you have an itchy trigger finger right Vette?” The Twi’lek smiled at her adoptive sister.

“No problem boss, it’ll be good to stretch the ol’ legs.” The sith then turned to her husband who simply nodded and sat up a little straighter, if that was even possible.  
“Oh this’ll be so much fun master!” Jaesa cried, turning towards Pierce.

“I’ll get it done.” The lieutenant stated, a smirk on his face, Broonmark had stalked over at that point, saying nothing but cracked his knuckles and flexed his claws in response to Isbalaa who smiled at her compatriots.

“Alright mom, dad, where was the last attack?”

In the Alderaanian Wilds Outside Thul Lands

Isbalaa, now clad in her red and black armor, complete with durasteel shoulder plates and various bits of armor plating, along with a long purple and black cape that went with the robe bottoms that matched the ensemble. Her lightsabers were hooked to the belt around her waist, nestled between multiple pouches that held various explosives and incendiaries, just in case. The sith looked around the clearing, before motioning for her team to come inwards.

Each of them took positions around the clearing, surrounding the central area where a large, wrecked transport was turned on it’s side with obvious scoring and blasmarks on the front and doors. Upon closer inspection, blood splatters could be made out on the scorched earth along with a broken blade tip.

“Definitely Rist, there’s a busted vibroblade here, and if I had to guess, it’s poisoned too.” If anyone was going to reply to the sith it was cut short by the tell tale sound of a stealth generator deactivating. They all whipped around, just in time to see an Rist assassin descend on Jaesa with two vibro knives. Vette screeched in surprise, shooting the assailant in an instant. The body hit the ground with a thud, and then all hell broke loose.

Multiple generators disarmed and suddenly the clearing was full of Rist assassins, and to make matters worse, Ulgo commandos began pouring into the clearing from the trees. Blaster fire erupted between the attackers and the Warrior’s crew, who were immediately on the defensive. Pierce, Vette and Malavai dove behind the leg of the transport before beginning to shoot back with deadly accuracy. Jaesa and Isbalaa activated their lightsabers, a double bladed for the former and two for the latter.

The two sith leapt into the fray, working back to back and with vicious intent. The pure red of the apprentice complimented the black and red of her master’s saber crystals perfectly, becoming a whirlwind of death. Bodies began to litter the ground as the enemy forces were decimated, then Jaesa was hit.

Just a glancing blow, but it was enough to knock her concentration off and the sith went down. Isbalaa then began working overtime, now on the defensive and desperately attempting to protect her apprentice as she tried to recover. Vette cried out in fear, standing up from cover to fire her two blasters as quickly as possible, before attempting to run towards her girlfriend.

Malavai quickly wrapped his free arm around the twi’lek pulling her back behind cover, but in that moment he was exposed. A commando towards the edge of the fray saw an opening, he fired and the blast was headed straight towards the Captain. Isbalaa saw this, she’d just used a signature move of throwing her sabers in an arch to kill a large group surrounding her. She saw the blast, it was just to her left, she could easily dodge it, sidestep it, but not deflect it. The sith knew though, that if she did nothing, the shot would hit him. Possibly kill Malavai, the love of her life. The woman moved into the blaster bolt, and she went down. 

Malavai saw it all, the twi’lek running towards his wife’s apprentice, the way he’d left himself wide open, the shot, and his wife… moving in the way to protect him. Everything went quiet, save for a single scream, and it took a moment for the captain to realize it was coming from his own throat. Then the moment was shattered, his fellow crewmates doubled their efforts, quickly disarming the remaining soldiers and assassins, forcing them all to their knees. Jaesa stood over her master, blood dripping from her hands and eyes alight with fire.

Pierce and Vette had their blasters to the heads of the remaining five soldiers who, as well as on their knees, had their hands behind their heads in surrender. Malavai rushed over to his wife’s side, practically sliding onto his knees in front of her from how fast he was running. She was barely conscious, the blaster wound had cauterized, but was now ripped open and oozing life blood. The captain pulled her into his arms, a tear falling from his eye and down his cheek, splashing onto his wife’s wound.

Isbalaa looked up at him, her eyes fluttering between open and closed. The sith gave a small smile up to him, brown eyes meeting blue.

“Shhh…” She murmured softly, shakily bringing up a hand to clutch his cheek. “...It’s okay…” The man holding her choked back a sob.

“Why…?” The brunette simply let out a soft chuckle, only for it to turn into a small cough.

“...You… know the answer..” It was true, he knew, he’d always known why she’d done these crazy stunts. Even before they’d dated, she’d always thrown herself in front of danger for her crew, but this, he would’ve died. She could die, even as a master of the dark side… without the right medical equipment to stop not only the bleeding but the internal bleeding… The hand on his cheek dropped, his wife’s eyes closed.

Another scream erupted from Malavai, he began shaking the woman he loved, sobs wracked his body as he pulled the brunette into his arms, rocking back and forth. A hand rested on his shoulder and he almost bit it, but settled for yelling at the person instead.

“QUINN!!” It was Jaesa, she was shaking him but he’d gone numb. “She’s alive, there’s a medical team on the way, you have to stop the bleeding! For the love of kriff you’ve gotta do something! It’s faint but she’s alive!” He loosened his hold on her, then the captain looked down at her form. She was breathing, faintly.

“Get my bag!” He cried. “I’m going to save my wife.”

Later

Five prisoners lay chained in front of the crew, surrounded by fifty Thul royal guards armed with more firepower than a military compound. Malavai was at the front of them, his face impassive, but his eyes full of absolute murder. The others were behind him, their eyes full of a similar fire.

“Which one of you took the shot?” The captain demanded, looking over the prisoners. Two prisoners turned to look at him before motioning to a commando between them.

“It was Gregor sir, he did it.” Malavai’s eyes snapped to ‘Gregor’.

“So you’re the one who shot my wife.” He stated, too calm for the look in his eye. As Malavai approached the soldier stood up a little straighter, or at least as much as he could in his kneeling position.

“What of it? She’s the one who moved in front of my shot anyway.” A beat of silence passed, then Malavai pulled out his vibroknife.

“Prepare to execute the others, publically, this one… This one is mine.” His voice was absolutely dripping with malice, enough to make a Dark Council member jealous. Someone went and grabbed a holo recorder but Malavai didn’t notice, he began dragging his victim by the chains towards the back room. The commando kicked and screamed but to no avail, his fate was sealed.

The other crew members fixed the holo recorder and recorded the execution of the other four before going silent. They could hear the screams from the other room, and could only imagine the horrors being inflicted onto that bastard.

“...Holy mother ‘a God…” Whispered Pierce when Quinn re-entered the room. He was covered in blood, his knife in his hand, dripping in blood and leaving a trail in his wake. If you looked close enough, it almost looked like blue eyes were rimmed with gold.

“...He’s dead then?” Vette asked, Malavai nodded before pushing past them, he stopped before leaving.

“Hang his body out front for everyone to see.” Then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp that was a roller coaster, no she's not dead, and yes she's gonna be back. Why in the heck would I kill the main character so early on? I just had the idea to show a much darker side of Malavai. When I was actually back on Alderaan for something or other, I'd forgotten I'd sent Malavai, my active companion, on a crew skill mission and died in Rist lands. So this is kinda what happened in my mind. ;3
> 
> EDIT: Causally realized that I put house Alde when I meant to say Rist, freaking house names just murder me sometimes. It's like Game of Thrones all over again!


	5. The Beginning

She was numb, her limbs felt as heavy as lead and yet weightless at the same time. The sith drifted in and out of conscious thought, her mind mixing with the force in her stasis.  
Isbalaa allowed herself to be taken by the force, shown the dreams and visions of it. Images danced in her mind, of worlds falling, a foreign power rising… of golden hair and blue eyes… A bright laugh… Then she awoke.  
The sith woke with a start, sitting up rather quickly and jerking around, her eyes dancing over the foreign space. Immediately she was engulfed in the familiar warmth of her husband as he clutched her hand, brown eyes connecting to blue. It was then that Isbalaa saw the state Malavai was in.  
His normally perfect hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction, clearly having fingers run through it so many times it had taken on a life of its own. The normally immaculate uniform was wrinkled, disheveled and even torn in some places, but that wasn’t the worst part. Malavai’s face was red, two dried tear streaks ran down his cheeks and his eyes matched the color.  
He… he never cried, Quinn never cried. Not once had she ever seen him cry… only once had she seen anything even close to this. And it was never this severe, on that fateful day on that space station near Corellia, only one tear had fallen, and it had fallen to the floor before Isbalaa had fully noticed it. Malavai looked at her now, his red rimmed eyes full of light once again at seeing her awaken. The sight of him in this state broke her heart.  
The sith was by no means a kind woman, she’d always been harsh when she needed to be, and to those she deemed unworthy. But for the people who she loved, the people under her guidance or who looked to her to lead? She would always care, and now? Now her crew was her family, there was nothing Isbalaa wouldn’t do for them. It was this feeling and instinct in her very bones that made the brunette, with what little strength she possessed at the moment, to pull her husband into a loving embrace.  
“I’m here.. I’m here…” She whispered into his ear, he shuddered with a small sob, pulling her farther into the embrace, his arms wrapping protectively around her.  
“...I’m sorry… I’m so so sorry… I-I wasn’t there in time… I t-thought I’d lost you…” His voice was strained, like there was a huge lump in his throat, there was so much emotion there. She cradled his head with the palm of her hand, her other arm wrapping around his neck as they sat there on the hospital bed, clutching each other.  
“Shhh, don’t talk like that… It was my decision to step into that blaster bolt, not yours. I did that, because I love you. It wasn’t your fault, never your fault do you hear me?” Isbalaa pulled away slightly to look into his eyes once more. She reached up and gingerly wiped away another tear, kissing his nose softly. “Now, what do I always say?” Her husband let out a small chuckle before answering.  
“Love makes us do stupid things… but it also makes us strong.”

Later~!  
As soon as she was able to walk, Isbalaa donned her armor once more, albet with the help of her husband, and confidently walked straight into the Throne Room where her parents were in the middle of a very important meeting about the assault by Ulgo and Rist.  
“Morning mother, father.” The sith said, matter o’ factly. The intense arguing from only moments before halted into a stunned silence, nobles of all the major houses, Ulgo and Rist excluded, stared at her in awe. Her father then rose from his throne and let out a whoop of joy.  
“My darling girl, you’re awake!” He then turned to one of the stingier looking nobles. “Take that Cortess! I told you she would be fine!” Said nobleman slumped ungraciously into his seat before tossing the King a small pouch that jingled.  
“Yes I’m awake, now then Papa, would you and Mum kindly clue me in onto what’s going on?” Isbalaa asked sweetly, taking up stance at the other end of the table and planting her hands firmly onto the top. Her tone was kind, but when she looked over at the other nobles her eyes narrowed menacingly.  
“Why of course Dear,” Queen Anastora replied, her calm and dignified demeanor taking over in the company of the nobility. It was obvious she had put on the Queen’s mask, or so the sith called it. “With the attack by Ulgo and Rist, the one you were injured in, the security has doubled within our borders. Not just the militia, but the common folk have taken action against the houses as well. It seems that Captain Quinn here was very wise in… taking care of the instigators. Other than that, the attack seemed to be a last ditch effort to unhinge the internal affairs of the crown. They no doubt heard that the heir apparent was planetside and were trying to kill you to send us into chaos trying to find a new heir. Obviously their plants failed.”  
Isbalaa nodded to her mother, humming in thought and drumming her fingers on the table.  
“Well, it seems that a full strike would be the best method of attack, but with their forces so scattered that is no longer possible. If we could just pin them down, my team could wipe them all out in one fell swoop.” The Cortess noble then turned and scoffed at the Sith.  
“Tch, like a dainty little thing like you could do anything useful in this situation. Why don’t you go back to your rooms and attend to princess duties-” His snide comments were brought to a stop when he began to choke and claw at his own throat.  
“Apparently you weren’t aware of one crucial fact, this little ‘princess’ is a Sith Lord.” The noble continued to claw at his throat which was now becoming red and raw with strain.  
“I d-didn’t… k-know…” He choked before collapsing to the tabletop when his throat was released.  
“Did you think these lightsabers on my belt were for decoration? The kriff were you thinking old man?” She snarled, the sith then looked to her parents.  
“I trust you’ve got everything in order?” Her father nodded.  
“Yes honey, you and your crew have my permission to depart.”  
“Thank you Father, we will be in touch.”

Later Still~!  
The group’s trip back to the ship was uneventful to say the least, everyone was on high alert and were quite protective of their master. Once they’d broke atmo everyone seemed to fall back into routine, it was then that a message came over the holonet.  
“Honey, I don’t recognize this frequency, do you know it?” The brunette asked, her husband looked over her shoulder before furrowing his brow.  
“I’m afraid I don’t, it’s Imperial though, would you like to check it out?” Isbalaa nodded, checking the meeting point.  
“I think we should, it seems urgent and… I’ve got a feeling about this, that were getting into something much… bigger.” The sith then flopped down in the Captain’s chair. “Set a course for the Imperial Fleet, let’s meet this ‘Beniko’ person for ourselves hmm?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! This by no means is the end of the story, just this specific chapter in it. I'm working on the next one as we speak, it'll be up soon so stay tuned. I've got major plans for it, there will be a significant time jump, but that's only so I can get to the really good stuff! Just you wait, chapters will be updated more regularly, I promise.


End file.
